Sweet Songbirds, Birthday Card, 2022-2023 Stampin' Up! Catalog

I was looking for another card using the "Sweet Songbirds" set. I am not happy with the way mine turned out. You can see the original card here. My choice of bird color is not good.  I may make another one sometime using a different color for the bird. But as I always do, I share with you the good, the bad, and the ugly!!!!

I really like this layout. I can see myself using it on a future card. The base of the card is a folded half-sheet of Basic White card stock. This card was cut in half on the 8-1/2" side of the sheet. Once cut it measured 4-1/4" x 11". I folded it in half and set it aside.

I cut a 4-1/8" x 5-3/8" piece of Flirty Flamingo card stock for the layer.

The next piece is the Designer Series Paper (DSP). I cut it from the "Awash in Beauty" 12" x 12" package. It measures 2-3/4" x 5-3/8".  I taped it to the Flirty Flamingo piece and then I taped that to the front of the card base. I didn't have the same DSP as is on the original card and that's where my color problem started. 

The focal piece measures 3-1/2" x 4" and was cut from a piece of Basic White card stock. The layer behind it is a 3-3/4" x 4-1/4" piece of Merry Merlot card stock. Now, if I were to redo this card, I think I would make that layer Balmy Blue.

I stamped the branch first using Early Espresso ink. The leaves were stamped using Granny Apple Green ink. 

The birds were added. I used Merry Merlot but next time I would go with the Balmy Blue. This color is WAY too dark. Before I stamped the birds, I did set the feet in place to see how I was going to get both birds on the piece. I removed the feet and stamped the birds. Then I stamped the feet using Soft Suede ink. The wings were stamped next.

The musical notes, words, and eyes were stamped next. Oh, I forgot to mention, I used my Stamparatus for this card. I don't like ruining my card stock because of faulty ink. Plus when using new stamp sets it's like they need to be broken in before they stamp nicely in the future. I used black Memento ink for those. 

I took the focal piece and the layer and taped them together. I added Dimensionals to the back and set it on the front of the card.  

And on the inside I stamped the words "it's your special day!".  I don't usually stamp words on the inside. But here I had to because of the words on the front. 

This was a fun card to make but the color of the birds is SO bad. Every time I look at the card I just want to look away really fast!!! LOL Close your eyes and imagine the bird in Balmy Blue or even Flirty Flamingo. Look the other way and open your eyes!!!

Thank you SO much for looking at today's REALLY bad and ugly card,
Wanda